{"product_id":"i-was-working-poems-9780691264066","title":"I Was Working: Poems","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA remarkable book of poems that mixes humor about the absurdities of office life with moments of Zen-like wisdom\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSeeking to find a song of the self that can survive or even thrive amid the mundane routines of work, Ariel Yelen's lyrics include wry reflections on the absurdities and abjection of being a poet who is also an office worker and commuter in New York. In the poems' dialogues between labor and autonomy, the beeping of a microwave in the staff lounge becomes an opportunity for song, the poet writes from a cubicle as it is being sawed in half, and the speaker of the title poem decides \"to quit everything except work,\" sacrificing her life and loved ones to bury herself in her four jobs, striving at any cost to find relief from the attempt to both have a life and be a good worker--\"No one was happy to see me, and so \/ at last I could work. No one said it's okay. It wasn't \/ okay, thus my work flourished.\" Despite such discontents, \u003ci\u003eI Was Working\u003c\/i\u003e finds humor, play, and even joy in its original and compelling search for the possibility of self-liberation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Ariel Yelen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Princeton University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/08\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSeries:\u003c\/b\u003e Princeton Contemporary Poets #181\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 80\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.3lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.19d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780691264066","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43014810337417,"sku":"9780691264066","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_e21e0a8b-9225-470c-a807-cf9d6b2493fe.jpg?v=1727761717","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/i-was-working-poems-9780691264066","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}